I would have to agree that fight was pretty awesome. Both really good fighters and that knee was mighty sweet at the end. I watched the Kimbo and Tank fight and I thought it was pretty cool for what it was.

Mixed martial artist Matt Serra, Long Island wunderkind, UFC world title holder at 170lbs, is peeved. Seriously peeved. He beat Georges St-Pierre, one of the UFC's most popular fighters, in a first round KO to earn the title almost a year ago, and yet the critics are questioning his credentials.

Look as close as you like, is his theory at present. He'll prove it all over again in Montreal on April 19, when the pair face each other once more in the Octagon.Last November, fighting was the last thing on his mind after two herniated discs in his back forced him to withdraw from his UFC 79 bout with Matt Hughes."When you can't get out of a chair or out of bed and your wife is helping you put your socks and shoes on, of course, negative things pop into your head."Serra knows he will have to be at his best against St-Pierre, whom he defeated a year ago. St-Pierre has come strong since, with triumphs over Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes.Serra explained: "It is like that first fight (against St-Pierre) never, ever happened. It is crazy! Last year may have been an upset but, believe me, it was no fluke."Critics have said the first round KO was a lucky punch. "What is a 'lucky punch'? Who do these people think I was trying to punch in the face if not Georges? Seriously - where did the luck come into it? I got him hurt and didn't let him off the hook. Seriously, you tell me, if you aim at something, and then hit it time and time again, was it luck or did you just do what you were trying to do?"Whether or not people think I am going to win this fight or not, that's fine, it is all about opinion and I respect that. But what's not a matter of opinion is that I beat GSP last April."Why, then, is his record underrated? "I'm not a guy who blames anyone or anything but himself for a loss, I don't make excuses and I don't let other makes excuses for me."I've learned from my losses, from my mistakes. I learned in the Karo Parisyan fight not to jump in and ruin my own work. I hurt him bad - I don't think he's ever been hurt like that while standing - but I went a bit crazy trying to get him out of there and wound up getting gassed out and he beat me on points because I couldn't do anything in the last round. I learned from that and when I had GSP hurt I didn't go crazy, I picked my shots."Serra reflects. "Looking back, if I'd beat Karo I'd probably have got a title shot too early. Instead I got to go on TUF and then get the title shot when I was ready."Look at my losses - who dominated me? Who kicked my butt? No-one. I've never got beat like I beat GSP. All my losses were close or I was winning the fight and got caught. I took my licks and came back better, no excuses, I came back."Serra, who may yet get the chance within the next 12 months to fight in New York, as UFC work to set up a commission in the state and develop sanctioning facilities there, knows, however, that he will be treading on glass in the Lion's Den in Montreal, with 22,000 fans baying like a pack for local hero St-Pierre."I've fought in pressure fights and I've fought when it seemed the whole world was on my shoulders. Let me tell you - this is not one of those fights!"No-one is even talking about this as a fight, just an occasion with 22,000 fans watching GSP win 'his' title back. All the pressure is on GSP. He has to live up to all this bull about himself, he has to step into the Octagon with a man who KO'd him last time. I'm fighting a guy I beat inside one round. Where's the pressure?"No-one is looking at me to do anything, for whatever reason, so there's zero pressure on me. I can't wait. What are people going to say when I beat him again. Do I become the god of MMA then? Or will people then pretend both fights didn't exist and didn't happen? A lot of people are going to look very stupid after I beat him again."

No, Serra has done very well against other a-list fighters. He hung very well with BJ Penn(who to this day says it was one of his more difficult fights), he hurt Karo Parisyan very badly, and he used superior strategy to beat GSP. The gameplan he beat GSP with is EXACTLY, to the letter, the way his striking coach Ray Longo described their strategy prior to the fight(essentially to continually give GSP the fear of being taken down and strike into him while he's looking for the shot). While GSP has superior fighting attributes, Serra exploited a hole in his game and put him away.

Now, that being said. GSP has shown marked improvement and aggression with his wrestling skills since that fight, and this would probably close up that hole. If GSP crowds serra early, and remains confident in his standup due to the certainty that Serra cannot execute a takedown on him(he can't), then Serra will have to be very clever indeed to win.

Not only that, but that bit about MH seeing himself like Ester was a tad bizarre I thought, and generally I did not care for his coaching personality at all. I also did not like the way the show made the guys from Serra's team have to go over to Hughes's team or the way MH belittled them for their feeling weird about it.

"You see, it's not the blood you spill that gets you what you want, it's the blood you share. Your family, your friendships, your community, these are the most valuable things a man can have." Before Dishonor - Hatebreed

Although his use was a little bit different than displayed in for example Kali Tudo(or most filipino empty hand stuff i've done) due to his different tools. Cung would often allow his opponent to get their lead foot outside of his and begin spiraling(what I would normally think of as a dominant angle for his opponent), but his use of sidekick as a stop-hit allowed him to invert the strategy at times.

Anderson Silva utilizes what I would consider a very similar understanding of angles, but with tools i'm more familiar with.

Here is the press release about the gym we just opened up in State College!

Mixed Martial Arts LANDS “BIG” in STATE COLLEGE, PA--Establishment of 19,000 square foot MMA Training CenterState College, PA- LionHeart Professional Management and Promotions Inc. enters the field of professional mixed martial arts announcing the acquisition of a 19,000 sq ft MMA training facility and the establishment of Team LionHeart in downtown State College, PA.

Located at 127 Sowers Street, just blocks off Penn State’s Main Campus and home to one of the best NCAA Division I wrestling programs in the country, the facility will include a 22 ft octagon, a 24 ft boxing ring, 6,000 sq ft of MMA mat space, and 8,000 sq ft of Hammer Strength, Free Weights and Aerobic Equipment making it one of the largest and best equipped MMA training facilities East of the Mississippi.

Owner Chad Dubin, says the majority of reputable MMA training camps and facilities are currently located in the Midwest and Western states. “There’s clearly a demand for a facility of this kind on the East Coast. Fighters who are serious about having successful, professional MMA careers as well as young athletes on their way up, now have access to elite coaching, state of the art facilities and professional career management, all in one location.”

Dubin also believes that many young MMA fighters find it difficult to transition into the professional ranks because their day jobs keep them out of the gym. “LionHeart will aggressively pursue a unique career development strategy for our fighters which includes event planning, targeted fundraising, and grass-roots fan base development. We will groom young fighters for professional careers and create an environment where professionals will become champions.”

LionHeart is well positioned to benefit from 2 significant factors: 1) the PA State Gaming Commission’s decision to sanction professional MMA events; and 2) Pennsylvania has the largest population of wrestlers and wrestling fans in the country.

Team LionHeart’s staff includes coaches specialized in grappling, striking, jiu-jitsu, muay-thai, wrestling and strength and conditioning.

Fighters and coaches interested in learning more about the opportunities at LionHeart should contact Chad Dubin at (814) 280-1982 or chad@lionheartfighters.com.

Crafty, I am the head striking coach. I teach Muay Thai and Boxing to our fighters. I am also the head instructor for all of the striking classes we hold at the gym for the public; Women's Kickboxing, Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA along with Youth Martial Arts and obviously Filipino Martial Arts. Jeff Rockwell is teaching Jiu-Jitsu to our fighters and is teaching the ground portion of the MMA classes. We also have on staff, several All American wrestlers to teach wrestling along with some excellent strength and conditioning coaches. I've spent the majority of my time, and plan on spending the majority of my time training the fighters and bringing top level instruction to the public classes.

No, Serra has done very well against other a-list fighters. He hung very well with BJ Penn(who to this day says it was one of his more difficult fights), he hurt Karo Parisyan very badly, and he used superior strategy to beat GSP. The gameplan he beat GSP with is EXACTLY, to the letter, the way his striking coach Ray Longo described their strategy prior to the fight(essentially to continually give GSP the fear of being taken down and strike into him while he's looking for the shot). While GSP has superior fighting attributes, Serra exploited a hole in his game and put him away.

Now, that being said. GSP has shown marked improvement and aggression with his wrestling skills since that fight, and this would probably close up that hole. If GSP crowds serra early, and remains confident in his standup due to the certainty that Serra cannot execute a takedown on him(he can't), then Serra will have to be very clever indeed to win.

Rampage should have rushed Forrest "Tito" style in the first round and G&P'ed him like what happened when Forrest fought Keith J. I have no clue why Rampage was soo timid. I also think that Forrest could have finished the fight much earlier if he would have continued with the leg kicks. This was a perfect example of how effective they are and why no one should stay so flat footed (Rampage).

Props to BTT Canada and everyone at GAMMA! That was a big win for Cote.

i REALLY like griffin, but i don't think he took that belt from jackson. it was close, MAYBE he did out point jackson, but i don't think he took that belt. one of the judges didn't even have jackson winning the 1st round & i believe 1, if not 2, judges gave griffin a 10-8 for the 2nd round-i just don't see it. he DID have a DOMINANT position in that 2nd round, but he did nothing with it.. there are a lot of fights when a ref has stood fighters up in similar sitiuations. again i didn't see griffin with ANY effort to finish(which is supposed to be huge in judging criteria) even in that 2nd round. jackson did alot of damage to forrest in ea. exchange they had trying desperately to finish him. the only damage i see that griffin did to jackson was the leg kick that hurt rampage in the 2nd(though it did affect him for the rest of the fight), while i saw griffin repeatedly rocked throughout the rounds from rampage. again his sticking and moving MAY have outpionted jackson but with jackson being a damaged fighter i never felt like griffin really took that fight over and dominate rampage or try to stop quinton jackson much less taking the belt from the champion. while rampage was a LIMP fighter i saw more damage he'd do to griffin and more effort to try and fininsh the fight.

I'm in Toronto and we caught the UFC freebie on the big screen at a restaurant-bar. Possibly the most boring card I have ever seen. There was a good Peruvian necktie and one hellacious eyejab-- but the rest was a giant snore.

I can't watch the AA clip here on the hotel computer, that will have to wait until I am back in LA.

I'm in Toronto and we caught the UFC freebie on the big screen at a restaurant-bar. Possibly the most boring card I have ever seen. There was a good Peruvian necktie and one hellacious eyejab-- but the rest was a giant snore.

I can't watch the AA clip here on the hotel computer, that will have to wait until I am back in LA.

Kevin's finger (thumb?) jab was a crappy end to an OK fight, but it did prove one thing, finger pokes to work, even when accidental.

Brock Lesnar showed tremendous improvement over his last outing which I suspect is due to having both Eric Paulsen and Greg Nelson in his corner Herring gets the Rocky award.

GSP continues to amaze and balls of steel award, jaw of steel award and conditioning award to Fitch for being the warrior to let him show it. Great respect between the two at the end of the fight. Perhaps Sled Dog can give us some background on GSP's fight preps?

Just before Manny Gamburian got dropped I said "He sure is looking straight up and down with his chin out , , ," MG is very good and surely must be sorely disappointed with himself.

Brock Lesnar showed tremendous improvement over his last outing which I suspect is due to having both Eric Paulsen and Greg Nelson in his corner

GSP continues to amaze and balls of steel award, jaw of steel award and conditioning award to Fitch for being the warrior to let him show it. Great respect between the two at the end of the fight. Perhaps Sled Dog can give us some background on GSP's fight preps?

Brock is sure lucky to have such great trainers in his corner. Greg Nelson helped make numerous champions on top of his own athletic endeavors. Erik Paulsons game is and coaching is unreal as well. I hope to see dramatic improvements in Brock as time goes on. CD what do you think of that straight right? It appeared Herring was firmly rooted with chin down, but went flying like a rag doll. Maybe he wasn't as rooted as it appeared?I continue to wonder why the occipatal slap is not used, especially on the ground when the back of the head is exposed.

GSPs spinning backhand was perfectly set up along with numerous other techniques.

Huerta i lost a beer bet over him. He was outclassed and slow to counter. He'd block and move, asses then engage, example that thai kick. Not block, instantly counter. His superman punch was lame, he pump faked it so many times it was overused.

Chek Kongo looked big. More work on the cage takedowns. His midsection was wide open as he was bending at the hips. He seems very classy post fight.

If you never loose your not putting yourself out into the fight... Eventually everyone looses. Chucks still one of my favorite fighters. Congrats to Evans on his win. He is a force to be reconed with...

I'm curious as to how some people deal with getting hit in the nuts, the smut footage of guys getting their nuts stepped on, etc. It also makes me wonder how many people get the accidental shot to the nuts and just take the five minutes because they can, not because it hurts. I also remember Rog (C-Space Dog) hitting someone in the nuts in a gathering and the other guy not even flinching. Interesting . . .

If you never loose your not putting yourself out into the fight... Eventually everyone looses. Chucks still one of my favorite fighters. Congrats to Evans on his win. He is a force to be reconed with...

Sweet spots to attack when using 4oz or bare knuckle. The larger gloves will dissipate the strike over a larger surface area giving a lesser effect. (but you guys already know this).